


willing combatants

by profiterole



Category: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Sparring as Flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22606885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profiterole/pseuds/profiterole
Summary: Cal and Merrin occupy themselves by training
Relationships: Cal Kestis/Merrin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 108
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	willing combatants

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pitseleh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pitseleh/gifts).



Coming back to Bogano to catch the crew’s collective breath between their adventures quickly becomes a habit. And while Greez does checks and repairs to the ship and its systems, and Cere works her contacts and plans out different options for their next mission, Cal and Merrin tend to occupy themselves by training. 

It’s been months, but every time Cal lands a hit when they spar—even with his lightsaber at low power—Merrin is surprised by the sharp heat of the blade. She used to think heat could only be like the deceptively gentle warmth of Dathomir, where the days are muggy, oppressively so, and it sometimes feels as if there isn’t enough oxygen in the atmosphere to breathe. This was before Cal Kestis barreled into her life and casually upended truths she’d been holding onto for far too long. 

Her life now can be neatly divided into before Cal, and after.

Merrin didn’t like thinking about the _before_ if she could help it. There was no going back and changing things now, so what was the point worrying about it. But the after? If she had to put a word to it, she might say that it scared her. 

Not that she’d ever admit it outside the privacy of her own thoughts. Merrin didn’t really understand how these people—Cal and Cere and Greez and even BD—could come to mean so much to her so quickly. It scared her to think of how much she could lose, now. One day she was watching the unremarkable ship with the mysterious boy-warrior—a _Jedi_ , the rumors tore through the Nightbrothers’ scattered encampments, confirmed by Malicos—leave the planet’s atmosphere, and the next she was on that very same ship leaving with them. It had been unthinkable to her once, that she would ever choose to leave Dathomir. It was her home, the only place she could be close to her fallen sisters—or so she’d thought. 

She is learning home can be more than a place she never thought she’d leave and her sisters will be with her every time she uses their magick. And her powers certainly aren’t constrained to Dathomir.

There’s a sudden, sharp burst of heat followed by a dull throb of pain in her bicep and Merrin refocuses on Cal’s grinning face. They’re evenly matched as sparring partners and he revels in every hit he manages to land on her. 

“Letting your mind wander during a fight can get you killed,” Cal says like he’s quoting someone else. He probably is. Even if Merrin doesn’t know the context, she does know what it’s like to try to sustain the memory of someone through whatever means necessary, however. 

Merrin lets the comment slide and circles Cal, who mirrors her steps. His eyes widen a fraction a second before the ground swallows his feet, bringing him to his knees. Forced to drop his lightsaber to break his fall, it powers down and clatters to the ground, the planet’s soft soil muffling the impact. 

“I thought we said no altering the field?” Cal is clearly trying to look annoyed as he tries to free himself, but he is struggling keep a straight face. 

“Did we? I think you said that, and assumed I’d agree with you. But I didn’t make any promises,” Merrin says levelly, but she is working hard to keep the answering smile off her own face.

Cal gives into the inevitable and laughs. It’s still such a surprising sound that never fails to make Merrin feel a flutter in her stomach, even after she thought she’d gotten used to hearing it. Cal is so different than anyone she’s ever known. Merrin never spared the Nightbrothers much thought and Malicos might have fed her anger, but his presence always left her feeling wrung out and her skin itchy like she needed to bathe. But even now, Cal manages to surprise her. He gives so much of himself so easily, in a way she’d never experienced before, Merrin might be tempted to be jealous, but know she can’t be. 

She’d watched the _Mantis_ leave Dathomir’s atmosphere before she knew the ship’s name, or that what she was feeling watching it slip into hyperspace was longing. And in her wildest dreams, Merrin couldn’t think she’d find a home with their motley crew—a family.

“Never believe an enemy will give up an advantage,” Merrin says returning her attention to the present, stalking closer to Cal. She had meant to keep her distance, but seeing Cal kneeling there, partially immobile, is too tempting to pass up. She reaches out her hand and traces her fingers along his jaw, marveling at the contrast between them. 

Merrin bends down and brings their faces together. She can feel the puff of air he breathes out from his nose. “Do you yield?” she whispers.

Cal’s eyes, dark and half-lidded, flit between her’s and her mouth, and she resists closing the gap between them. Wanting instead for Cal to be the first of them to break. But instead of feeling his lips on hers, in an instant Merrin finds herself on her back, her arms pinned at her side and Cal above her, grinning triumphantly. 

“I think I should be asking you that question,” he says softly. The ground at her back is cool and damp, but Merrin can only focus on Cal. 

Done with teasing him and herself, Merrin surges up and kisses Cal fiercely, rocking her hips into his. Subtlety, she decides, can wait for another day. “Let’s call it a draw, then,” Merrin says.

Cal laughs again, a bright and happy sound that bubbles up from his chest, and leans back in to kiss her in agreement, their spar forgotten. For now.


End file.
